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T Minus 5 Minutes - One Final Complication
“Safe travels, doctah Merchante,” Dorian accepted his colleague’s hand, before they parted company. His final patient was a “no-show,” which proved a blessing. Leaving the infirmary behind, Dorian took the short stairway to the open cargo bay hatch. He leaned on the railing, glad for the diversion of the deckhands moving about below. Eventually, the decision for some fresh air caught his mind. After all, they would be bottled up for the next few days’ transit to Ezra. A brief trip across the cargo bay now had him at the foot of LV’s ramp. In the distance, he saw Dr. Mechante hailing a local cab. The man looked back, caught sight of Dorian, and offered a forlorn wave. With naught to do but wave in return, Dorian lifted a hand in farewell. The cab rushed off, passing a diminutive woman in a full skirt. Raven hair tossed its’ curls about her shoulders as she made her way forward, toward him. At first, he could’ve sworn it was Marisol. Then, with a wave and a dazzling smile, Maria Chavez hurried across the street toward him. “Well! Don’t you look lovely?” Dorian smiled in greeting. Her face brightened into an excited grin. “Mama told me everything,” she fairly bubbled. “Yes! Yes!” She threw herself into his arms, holding tightly against him. “I’m so happy!” “Ah’m glad,” Dorian chuckled. “But Ah haven’t taken a knee yet. Did she tell yah we gotta wait awhile?” Maria nodded her head enthusiastically. “Ninety days…right?” “Hopefully no longer,” he said. “But listen. In a few days, a woman’s gonna come by the house. She’s a lawyer. Yah mother knows her. She’s gonna have papers fah you tah sign, like a marriage license…” The girl’s eyes brightened. “Doesn’t that mean we’ll be married…right away?” “Yes, legally…now, now hold on. There’s a bunch of financial an’ business papers that need tah be signed. If you’re legally mah wife, yah can sign them, and make decisions while Ah’m away. We’ll still run a full engagement, an yah mother can plan a weddin’ when yah turn eighteen.” Maria’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know any real business…except the cantina.” Dorian smiled. “If yah understand those books, then yah can figure out mine. The lawyer will help, an’ yah parents, too. Now,” he said, “Ah’m so flattered with how excited yah are ‘bout this…but you have tah know just who Ah am goin’ in. Ah drink. Ah like tah drink. Yah mother thinks Ah drink too much.” “I know. She told me.” “Did she, now?” Dorian asked. “Alright. Ah gamble. Ah play poker…Ah choose to believe it’s an honest trade. Ah also win enough tah profit by it.” “I know,” Maria nodded patiently. His expression grew serious. “Did she talk about…time of war? What Ah do with guns?” “My mama,” she answered slowly, “went off to war when I was really little. I know how much she loves me,” the girl continued, “and I understand what she felt she had to fight for. She told me about meeting you…and how you lost your family. She said you’ve got a talent with a gun…one that scares her… she didn’t talk much more. I know you’ve both killed people…in the war…” “And aftah,” Dorian said gently. “You should also know that Ah sometimes hire out tah folk who need a reliable gun hand. But,” he intimated, “A person builds a reputation. Occasionally, someone wants tah challenge that reputation. Ah’ve had tah respond to some pretty uneven challenges. Circumstance favors the quicker hand…dohn mah?” “I think so,” Maria said. “I’ve only ever used a shotgun to kill snakes.” “Ah hope that’s all yah ever have to do,” he said quietly. To Dorian’s thinking, this accounting of his sins was complete…except for one final, formidable topic. “Yah mother’s spared no details ‘bout mah checkered past,” he said. “Should I expect that she’s mentioned…women?” Maria grinned, her eyes sparkling. “You mean sex?” “Yes.” Despite himself, Dorian began to feel a mild flush at the base of his collar. “Mama told me that you’ve been with lots of whores and a couple companions,” Maria’s smile never faded as she answered, “because you’ve never been in love, but you’re a man and you like sex.” He blinked. “Damn,” Dorian swallowed, “Ah guess she didn’t hold back. Well then,” he stammered, “now that all mah transgressions are laid bare, if yah feel the want of questions, Ah…” “Dorian.” Maria’s gaze was sharp and direct. “Can I call you Dorian?” At his nod, she continued. “Muy bien. You’ve been most honest with me, and I’m thankful. Now I’ve got words for you.” “Please,” he gestured with an open hand. “All my life,” the girl began, “I’ve lived on Santo. Same house. Same cantina. That used to be fine. Now it’s not. Things are changing here. The girls I called my friends have changed. They’ve become so mean…and all of a sudden, I’m not welcome..because of my skin. Have you ever heard of such a thing?” she asked. “Too frequently,” he dipped his eyes. “And the boys? I grew up with them,” she exclaimed. “Now…they won’t have anything to do with me…except try to get me into bed.” “That part sounds normal,” Dorian observed. Maria shook her head as she struggled to communicate her feelings. “I thought it was supposed to be…special. But the boys here in town? It’s like some kind of contest. ‘Who can tag the most girls? And now, there’s old men….uugh!” she gagged. “Papi’s age…trying to pay for me to marry them! One of them sends me notes…what he wants to do to me.” She shuddered, then lifted her gaze. “Dorian, you were so kind to all of us growing up. You say…you do… nice things. You’re the first man who ever made me feel really pretty…just by telling me how nice my dress looked! It sounds dreadful childish when I say it…what...I…think,” Maria concluded, “is that you’d make it special for me.” “Ah’d surely try,” he said. “But yah’ve seen yah parents. Life’s not a romance novel. And while Ah promise that Ah’ll always try tah treat yah right, yah need tah understand that Ah’m not always agreeable company.” “Mama loves you,” she said. “She’s worried about you…and your ways.” “With good reason.” “But that’s another part of it for me,” Maria lifted her gaze to join his. “I want that. I want to learn…everything. Life. I want to get away from here…see what you see, and….do what you do. I want to learn how to drink, how to play cards, how to have good sex…oh, I’m sorry,” she blushed. “I shouldn’t say those things.” “Yah should speak freely,” Dorian touched her for the first time, a gentle stroke of her hair. “All those things,” he said, “so-called sin, sex, that’s just a small part of life. When the time comes, Ah’ll be there…and Ah promise tah show yah. But until then,” he said gently, “Ah want yah tah make me a promise.” “Anything.” “Mah promise tah marry you is as much to yah mother as I make tah you now,” he said. “And when that day comes, Ah’ll honor it gladly. But,” he took her hands into his, “Ah want yah tah promise me that if, between now and then, yah meet someone, some nice young boy, and yah fall in love, that yah’ll tell me.” “No,” her brow furrowed again. “That won’t happen…” “Maria, yah deserve a happy life with a person yah fall in love with. Don’t let this arrangement get in the way of that…promise me.” She frowned, then slowly nodded her head. “Okay, I think I understand. Alright, I promise.” “Good.” The newly betrothed couple stood for a moment, slightly awkward, until Maria reached for the pocket in her skirt. She produced an envelope. “Mama sent this for you,” she said. Dorian opened it, read the few hand written lines, and broke a smile that he then showed to Maria. “Can yah pass a message to yah mother fah me?” “Sure.” “Hey Doc!” came a call from Lunar Veil’s cargo bay. “We’re about to button up!” Dorian waved a dismissive hand. “Ah’ll be just a minute.” He took the girl into his arms. “Hug her fah me,” he whispered, “give ‘er a kiss fah me,” he said before pecking Maria’s forehead “and tell her “Ah love yah, Hermana.” Maria held to him, her eyes glistening. “I’ll do it,” she said. “Just like that.” Dorian lowered his face to hers. “This one’s fah you.” He pulled her close, his lips meeting hers in a soft, lingering kiss. “Ah’ll be back fah yah,” he whispered as he caressed her face, “when this is over.” “I’ll be waiting.” She pressed a photograph into his palm. “Come home soon, mi amor.” “Doc! Now!” “Ah promise,” he said as with a surprising reluctance he pulled back from their embrace. Maria offered a sad smile, her face a tumble of emotions he’d never quite bothered to see before. With a gentle wave, she turned for home. Dorian stepped to the top of the cargo ramp, where he caught himself turning to catch a final glimpse or her. She walked away, a brilliant spot of beauty that turned heads as she went. As he watched her go, he whispered to himself, “what in hell am I doing?” The cargo ramp lifted, and the personnel door was sealed shut. They were ready for upthrust. Dorian offered a smile for the deckhands. “Patient ‘o’ mine paid me in fresh corn,” he said. “Anybody wanna help me shuck it? Ah didn’t think so.”